Mt. View teacher April Whitaker "hooping" it up

Mountain View Hoopsters: When sixth grade teacher April Whitaker started a basketball team for 5th and 6th grade girls at Mountain View Elementary four years ago, she opened new doors and mentorship opportunities with lasting impacts. "Many of these girls had never even seen a basketball team on TV, much less being played by women," said Whitaker, who says playing on the afterschool team helps prepares the girls for middle school sports.

The team is appropriately called "The Small Storm" and they recently had the opportunity to see the game in action at a women's basketball game at The Evergreen State College. Afterwards, the coach and members of the TESC team came and played with the girls after school as they wrapped up their season. TESC coach Monica Hever and her team, including Alex Saab, Ali Matisons and Mele Rich , says it's a great way to get out in the community. "It's wonderful for my team to be able to give back to these young girls and be role models."

One MVE hoopster, Hannah, has been playing for two years. "It's awesome…I love it!" She and her friends said they all plan to play middle school basketball too. The team's season will culminate in a field trip to opening night for the Seattle Storm game.

The above is taken from the weekly NTPS Success page.

Some resources for you and your family

101 Ways to Praise a Child
Being an Effective Parent - Helping Your Child Through Early Adolescence
Raising Siblings

These and other resources are available at Mt. View, on the table just inside the main entrance.

February newsletter published

Here's the link to your latest and greatest Mt. View PTA newsletter! Please note that it includes a time-sensitive flyer, giving you the opportunity to send your student to an after-school language class. Check it out and turn your flyer back in to the school as soon as possible!

See you tomorrow (Tuesday) for our general membership meeting!

Best to you all,
Brian

Brian Morgan
Mt. View PTA President 2009-2010

February meeting agenda

Please join us for our February general membership meeting next week:

Tuesday, February 9th
6:30 - 7:30 p.m.
Mt. View library

We will discuss 2010 Fun Nights - looks like we may have one in February or March and then again in May! Come provide your ideas and input or at least find out what is coming up!

Click here for the draft agenda. Questions? Contact President Brian Morgan.

See you there!

Congratulations to student Natalie Stark!

Lacey Loves to Read 2010 Bookmark winners:

Congratulations to the following students whose artwork was selected for the 2010 Lacey Loves to Read bookmarks. They had surprise visits last week from Lacdey Loves to Read reps and Lacey City Council members. Thanks to the hundreds of students who participated this year. The top 12 winners will have their artwork published to help publicize the Lacey Loves to Read events and 2010 Native American author Jospeh Bruchac. To learn more, visit http://www.nthurston.k12.wa.us/read.

Grand Prize winners:

• Richelle Jones, North Thurston


• Regan Rudy, North Thurston


• Lashay Jimenez, Nisqually


• Natalie Stark, Mountain View


• Owen Carroll, Evergreen Forest


• Tristan Johanson, Pleasant Glade

Honorable mentions:

• Maddelin McElroy, Faith Lutheran (Community Winner)


• Nicole Parsons, Lakes


• Miles Thibodeaux, Horizons


• Briana Scheffer, Lacey


• Sammi Minter, Meadows


• Amy Conklin, South Bay

We need you in February!

Mt. View PTA members and friends of Mt. View,

I am sad to report that we were unable to conduct our important January business at the last meeting. We failed to draw a quorum (minimum of ten, per our rules) of members and thus could not elect our Nominating Committee. For this reason, we have shifted the 2010 meeting schedule and will have another general membership meeting in February, rather than a Board meeting.

Please join us:

Tuesday, February 9^th

6:30 – 7:30 p.m.

Mt. View library

If we fail to draw a quorum at that meeting, then we will not have a Nominating Committee elected and will be forced to hold our election for 2010-2011 officers during the April meeting, simply asking for nominations and self-nominations from the floor.

I certainly realize that some of you simply cannot attend PTA meetings. However, if we cannot even draw ten paid members to take care of important business every other month, then perhaps the PTA does not have enough support to do its business. Please consider whether you find value in PTA and mark your calendar for February 9^th, if at all possible. The point of having a quorum requirement is so that a handful of members cannot dictate the agenda and business decisions for all of you. This is YOUR PTA, after all!

Thanks for continuing to support your PTA. We are proud to do what we can to benefit our kids and students.

Take care,

Brian

January newsletter posted

Here's your January installment of the Mt. View PTA newsletter, thanks to our faithful editor and co-VP, Tara-Lyn Poole! If you have submissions for consideration for February's edition, please submit prior to February 5th.

PTA meeting - join us on Tuesday the 12th

Happy New Year and welcome back to the swing of the school year! I hope you had some time, over the winter break, to spend time with family and reflect over the year of 2009. I admit that I did that and took off my PTA hat for much of the break! But now we’re back to work and we have our next general membership meeting next Tuesday, the 12^th, at 6:30 p.m (Mt. View library).

This is an incredibly important meeting because we will elect our Nominating Committee, which is made up of paid members and is charged with recruiting and finding eligible and interested officer candidates for 2010-2011. Elections are scheduled for the April meeting and officers serve from July through June.

In addition, we are lucky to have two guest speakers on Tuesday:

• Elke Armajo – World Language Program
• Cynthia Coble – North Thurston Citizens for Schools (upcoming levy)

Please join us on Tuesday! If we do not have at least 10 paid members in attendance, it will be a short meeting and we will be unable to elect a Nominating Committee, nor vote on any business. Please help support your PTA by attending and learning more about how PTA works for the students of Mt. View.

Click here for the agenda for Tuesday's meeting and here for the December Board meeting minutes.

As always, thanks for supporting your PTA!

Brian Morgan

December potluck postponed

Alas, too many of you already have family and other obligations for Saturday, the 19th of December. Thus, we will postpone the PTA Volunteer Appreciation potluck to a date in January. Please submit your suggestions for a date/time to PTA President Brian Morgan.

Thanks so much for what you volunteers do for Mt. View and PTA!

It's Okay to Be Different

Mountain View second graders teach others "It's Okay to be different!": When Jessie Dunnam, a second grade teacher at Mountain View, read "It's Okay to Be Different" (loaned to her by team member Valerie Harris), she was struck by the sweet story and decided to share it with her students during transition time after recess.

"The personal connection that they made with it was much greater than I had ever expected, said Dunnam. "The kids decided that we needed to share the message with the school." Working together, they developed a performance, posters, and quotes which they shared with nearly every class in the school.

They designed and hung 26 banners throughout the school with their "It's Okay" message. Dunnam said she saw students, teachers and staff stopping daily to read the messages on the posters. "I think it is because the messages the students shared are real and true for all of us…my students truly inspired and amazed me with their thoughtfulness and sincerity."

Here are some of her favorite quotes:

• It's okay to live in a different country. (Sonny)
• It's okay to have different colors of skin. (Mary)
• It's okay to be shy. (Cody)
• It's okay to have four fingers. (Darren)
• It's okay to be yourself. (Will)
• It's okay to make mistakes. (Anya)

From the NTPS Success post - 12/04/2009